The List
by RunRunRunAway
Summary: Grim reapers have hearts, but what happens when the Grim Reapers youngest son has only half of one? half nobody, half Reaper, this Reaper goes on a quest to gain power and a full heart. When he finds out about Organization XIII, he can't resist meddling
1. Chapter 1

First it was Vexen. I knew that stupid scientist would get himself killed trying to keep the organization together, but the fact that he was killed by an organization member, someone on the same team! I never expected that! Tsk, tsk, tsk Axel, that was very naughty of you, wasn't it?

I looked down at the list of organization thirteen members. I placed my finger on the numbers lined up on the right side of the page and traced my finger going down until I found '6'. I crossed it out, along with the name of poor Vexen.

_So sorry, Vexen, _I thought, _but I might have to do something to you that you may not like. _

I walked out of the bushes to where Vexen had faded away. Oh yes, I was in the bushes the entire time Axle was killing Vexen. Did I do anything? No! I'd be out of a job if I did, now wouldn't I?

I took out one of the thirteen cards I had with me at all times. They were blank cards: completely white. There was no design, no nothing. I love these mother fucking cards. Capture any fraction of a soul in them and then you've got the entire soul for eternity. Even after it had come and gone.

How do these cards work? Well, that may just be the most simple question that anyone could ask me. All you do is put the card on a person and you capture their souls. If they died, well, all you have to do is put the card face down where the person died. But of course, you need to pay a small price if you want the soul. But I won't worry about that. Right now I need to start to get him back.

And so I did, placing the card delicately over where Vexen had lost his existence. Poor, poor Vexen. But there's no need to be sad, is there? I mean, as long as his soul is in the card, he really isn't dead, is he?

Dark engulfed the small object, bits and pieces of the black hole-like thing flying into the air like grasping, greedy hands. Looking for me, I suppose? Well then, I'll comply.

And I did, walking right in front of the hands. Soon they all found me, grasping onto my shoulders, my hips, my arms and my legs. The things slowly began to wrap around me, swirling around my abdomen and every other part of my body, one reached down my mouth, until it found that little black hole in my chest. My own soul.

I knew what the trade was. A little piece of my soul for the entirety of another. Well, that's perfectly okay with me. Not that the Grim Reapers own son would actually _have _a limited soul. If I run low, I take others'. I see no problem in it. That's how my dad taught me, right? He taught me that if I wanted to get anywhere in life, then I needed to take it. I needed power, too. And I was going to do just that, but in my own way. Not in _his _way.

I felt the little drain in my chest as the stupid little hand stole a piece of my soul, and then I felt the absence of the hands. All of them gone, going back into the little card from where they arose, but the card will be different when they leave. Instead of the card being the small white card I had left on the floor it will be a larger black card with a picture of Vexen of the other side. It contained Vexens' soul now. Vexen belonged to me now. As will the rest of the organization, at this rate, with team mates killing other team mates. All that's left for me to do is pick up the pieces and wait for more.

My father kills people if it's their time for death. Without him, people could live forever. It's because of him that people grow old. He sets a time for them, and has them slowly grow into a body they don't want anymore. This makes it easier to convince them that moving on is not a bad thing. A new body, a fresh start, what more could you ask for, right? It makes it easier on him. Unlike me, the defect of his three children, he has a complete heart. He fells bad for killing, and it makes him feel better about it if the person goes willingly. I truthfully don't give a damn if the person wants to go or not. I would make them go.

Anyway, he kills people throughout the universe, so he doesn't have a lot of time for me. When he kills them he takes their soul and makes himself stronger with the essence. Then he sends the heart and moves it on to the next life. Its a simple cycle, really. You're born, you grow old, Reaper dude comes, and it restarts. Joy.

But one thing out of the cycle of life interests me. The one-out misfit of the natural process we Reapers carry on. Nobodies! Those confusing nobodies that are able to take a human form! Reapers aren't needed for their leaving this world because they don't have hearts. Only souls. There's nothing to pass on! It's an incomplete circle, and we don't know how to fix it. And another thing that confuses me is how they can go to another life without us! We know that they can, we know when everything is reborn. But... without the Reaper? But _we_ send then on! And in order to do that, we need a heart to send on! So if we don't send them on, and they don't have a heart, then... then how? How is it possible! It's not, but it is? Does that even make sense?

I looked at the card, face up. Vexen was on it, doing whatever. Writing something down. I'm sure that if I put this card in my pocket and pulled it out three hours later he would be doing something else, like playing with chemicals or reading. It's called a living picture. The person in the picture will move because there's a soul somewhere lurking in the picture. You'd think that would be creepy, but no, it really isn't. Would you rather that soul be bored in there until I let it out?

I looked back to the list of members from organization thirteen... or organization twelve, now. Who do I think will go next... I'm going to no-brain it and say Xaldin.

As it ended up, I was wrong. It wasn't Xaldin who died next, it was actually Larxene. If I gave a little more thought into who I was guessing, I'm sure I would have guessed her. You know, I was never a fan of her, so it's really a loss. She wasn't that great as a fighter. And that's sorta want I want... fighters. I'll get her soul anyway. No reason to let it go to the next life when it seemed so _happy _in this life, right?

So, I did as I did before. I fell down to the floor, as I was on the ceiling, watching her death, placed the card down where she died, got the stupid clutching hands, and then was ready to claim my prize. I picked up the card now containing Larxene. Wasn't that fun? I got two of them now.

I got that list I was talking about earlier out. What number was she...? Um... whatever.

Instead of scrolling down the numbers I scrolled down the names. Ah, there she is. She's number twelve. How nice. I crossed it out with a quick dash from my pencil...

"Hey! What are you doing here?" I heard a voice ask. I turned to see a bushel of pink hair and a black cloak.

"I'm assuming that you're one of the organization members?" I sort of chuckled.

"Yes." he answered stepping forward, "And whatever you may be right now will be no more momentarily, so I have no need to ask."

I gasped in mock terror, "Oh, no! I'm going to get hurt! I should run away!"

"Shut up! You clearly do not know what you are dealing with."

"And you clearly do not know who you're dealing with." I said.

He sighed, "And what am I dealing with?" it was pretty obvious that he didn't give a fuck.

I laughed. I wore over myself what looked like the grim reapers cloak, but it wasn't ripped all over the place. No, that would be gross and... well, untidy. Of course I had my hood up. It's just what I did. I liked it up all the time.

But if they ask to see what I am, then I'll gladly comply.

Pulling down my hood made the pink head gasp, and I knew why. I had a defect, as I might have mentioned earlier. I didn't have a complete heart of my own. The Grim Reaper should have a complete heart, even his kids should. But no, not me, and it shows.

Because of this stupid defect, I'm only half Grim Reaper. Half of my face is split into a skeletal frame. The other half... well, It's a nobody because I don't have a heart for that side of my face, my body. I only have half of a heart. It's in the frame of a nobody. But I had two parents, so how can I be half nobody? What would I look like? Who would I be?

Well, my looks are easy. The other half of my face is the face of the closest nobody that fits my structure as a humanoid. And who I am? Well that's simple. A hybrid. A strange, unnatural, repulsive hybrid with no meaning in it's eternal life. Fun right? But it's not all over for me. I'm trying to find my own purpose now. And these cards, once containing the souls of the nobodies, are going to help me.

"How?" the man asks, enraged, "But you're not-!"

"I'm not you?" I asked, "How many times have I heard _that_ before?"

"How?" he asked again, his voice cracked, "How can you exist?"

"Oh, me? Well, it's simple. I'm a freak. Freaks exist. Deal with it." I said, summoning my scythe out of the darkness. I look down at it.

_Well... that's an... interesting combination._

My scythe, originally just a curved blade attached to the end of a crooked piece of wood, now had mixes of green and pink on it. I know what happened, his weapon formed into mine, me being half him, and then this must have been the outcome...

"Your weapon is pink and green?" I asked.

He summoned his weapon. It was strange how he did it: all that happened was a rose petal falling from the sky, and then he had his weapon. Strange... HEY.

"You stole my weapon!" I complained, looking at his girly pink scythe.

"I don't think so." he said, "I've been using this weapon for quite a while now."

Kinda mad, I flew over there in a second and sliced his face. He went flying backwards, not expecting the sudden attack, and hit the wall.

"Because I'm in a good mood I'll let you go. But don't think I'll be so kind as to let you leave if I meet you again. I'm collecting you guys, anyway." I said. His confused face made me laugh, but I wasn't going to explain. I didn't have to explain myself to anyone.

The third one came and went, off my list, and into my card. Laxaeus was third, then the fourth one came just as fast. It was the pink head, Marluxia, and I had some fun putting him into the card.

I looked down at the Marluxia card I had in my hands, "I told you so, didn't I? Didn't I tell you that I was collecting you all?"

The fifth, who just happened to be Zexion, I had a whole crap load of trouble with. Because he was freaking _absorbed._ By that Repliku kid, too!

I almost sighed in a pissed off manner when I saw this, but that wouldn't have been to smart, speaking that Axel and Repliku were right in front of me. Isn't it lucky that Grim Reapers can blend into the darkness?

I decided that if I didn't get him back soon, I wouldn't get him back. At all. I stepped out of the darkness in the corner, clapping, trying to sound clam when I knew that the Rupliku kid could absorb nobodies. I was half after all, right?

"Nice, nice, well played out!" I commented. "You know, I'm stunned Axel. Completely shocked, actually! This is the second death of your little friends that you've caused. But who cares, right? No regret!" I laughed. His eyebrows come together.

"How do you know that?" he asked.

"Oh, how could this little runt know that I'm killing off the organization? Oh no, this could be bad!" I said, mocking him, "Remember this person?" I asked, reaching into my pocket and touching the card that radiated Vexens essence. I can't explain how this works, but Vexens' soul came out of the card, and it slowly formed into his own body. He was under my control at the moment. Because I _wanted_ him to be under my control.

Axel gasped. "I thought I-!"

"Killed him?" I finished for him, "Well, yeah you did. But using I few tricks of mine, I brought him back. Aren't you happy?" I asked.

He sort of stuttered out, "A few... What? But how can you-,"

"Do that?" I offered him. "Well, lets just say, when you control death, it's pretty easy." his eyes grew angry. "What? Are you mad that Vexen is alive? Now that's kinda cruel."

"Shut up!" he said, slashing his hand threw the air as if to cut me going diagonally.

I laughed. "I won't kill you now. But as I said to Marluxia," before I finished I began to walk away into the shadows again, "if we meet again, you won't be so lucky."

Once I was in the darkness I completely disappeared from sight. They thought I was gone. But I wasn't. I would get Zexion back no matter what. A puzzle can not be completed with a missing part.

Next was Demyx. Somehow I knew he would go, soon enough, I knew.

I looked at the list of all the organization thirteen members. Eight alive. That's good. But now it's going to be seven. What a shame, Demyx, you were one of my favorites. Never could kill someone, could you?

I was in plain sight the entire time Demyx was getting killed by that Sora boy. I was going to go in there, stop the fight and absorb Demyx by placing the card on his chest, but I knew that it was different with nobodies. Unlike humans who would cower and just go with it because they think they can't avoid it, Demyx wouldn't go, he would stay and fight. He'd try and fight me, and then I'd be the one to kill him. Not what I wanted.

Oh well. I'll just have to watch while he dies like the rest of them.

I saw Sora deal the final blow before Demyx fell to his knees. He got up again and noticed something was wrong. When he checked his hand he noticed his sitar was gone.

"What?" he asked to no one.

"_No way!_" He screams before falling onto his knees. He let out a strangled moan of pain before he was gone.

Sora got out of his fighting stance. "Anyone else from the organization want to be next?" he asked.

I gritted my teeth. I'm not from the organization, but I'll sure as hell be next, you cold heartless bastard. Killing off the organization members like that. What did Demyx do to you? You killed him just because he was apart of the organization?

Eventually Sora the duck and the stupid dog carried on. I walked over to where Demyx died. When he died a whole bunch of water flew all over the ground. It's not there anymore.

I placed a white card on the ground. Again, with the hands, and the darkness, and the whatever, and then finally I got the card containing the soul of Demyx. Took long enough. On the card Demyx was playing his water sitar. I sort of laughed at the sitarist. It was funny how much he loved music.

Next went Xaldin, And then Axel, and I got Zexion back from Repliku after Repliku died. The collection was growing fast, which pleased me. The faster, the better. Xigbar died, then Luxord, and then Saïx. I sort of felt bad when Saïx went. All he wanted was a heart! I mean, god! The poor guy. It's a good thing he gets a second chance. All the time I was crossing out the names on my list.

Until only two remain. Roxas and Xemnas. Well, might as well cross Roxas off. He found his other, no one knows what happened to him after he fused with that boy. Xemnas. Well, he's my last problem. I'm sure that the Sora boy will solve that problem quite easily.

And I thought right. Soon enough Sora killed Xemnas, and I was there to claim the prize he left behind. Once the soul of Xemnas was completely in the card, all I had to do was gather some hearts, which was not hard. All I had to do was send some heartless to Soras' islands, and then 'presto~' I had thirteen hearts that we released from the key blade after the heartless had been slain with them. Then all I needed were a couple of nobodies, (Twenty four to be exact) and some rope. I got some rope easily. Just stole some after I took the soul of someone who had it. Easy.

Nobodies lettered Castle Oblivion, so doing that was not hard. I took the bodies of the nobodies, still alive and struggling uselessly, in a bag the all Reapers used to carry souls in. You'd think there wouldn't be a whole lot of these bags around... speaking that there's only, like, five reapers in existence. But no. You can find these bags everywhere.

While I was around a few Dusks I figured I might as well take a few souls and recharge mine. It took a lot out of me to shove all those souls into those cards. While I was at it I supercharged my soul, getting into fighting the Dusks. The more souls I have, the better. I get stronger.

After I was done and feeling great I found the most empty room of the castle that seemed to be around. I drew a circle and then placed the cards of the organization members all around it, evenly apart from each other. I took the still-alive-and-wiggling nobodies out, one by one, and tied them up so they couldn't move. I placed two on top of each card, and then dropped a gooey heart on top of them. I sat down, holding a heart in my hand as well. I smiled.

What a masterpiece. The circle of hearts. If only organization thirteen knew of this. Their efforts of getting kingdom hearts was a waste, and ended with them all being dead. So sad. I looked out a window to see the moon in the shape of a heart.

I looked at it for a while before saying the words that would bring me power from the cards and also give the souls inside the cards what they want.

"Hearts, bodies, souls. The full make up of a living human-like being. Without one inside you, you are considered to be incomplete. There's only three cases that deals with their mutation. Reapers lack a soul, so they steal them from others. Heartless, which in most cases do contain hearts, but abuse the feelings contained inside of them. Nobodies lack bodies and hearts, so they come out as demented, strange creatures." I chanted the words that I had memorized completely, "I only ask, with the souls stored inside of me, that we be cured of our mutations. For the ones that contain only a soul and no body or heart, I offer a heart, two bodies of nobodies, and a piece of my soul to weave them back into humanity. As for myself, who has only half a heart instead of a whole, I offer a whole heart and a piece of my own soul to fix the wrong inside of me. Please, take the offerings and bring us back to the path of right!" I finished finally, holding my breath in anticipation.

A pool of dark began to stir inside the circle of hearts. Good, good! Hands, much like the ones that continually took bits and pieces of my soul away, reached out and began to wrap around each a card, two nobodies, and a heart. Soon enough, the cards, the bodies, and the hearts were engulfed in a thick cocoon. An arm slightly different than the others reached out and faced me. It hand a mouth and a single deformed eye on it, but still in the form of a hand.

"The third son of the Grim Reaper?" it asked in a rusty-whisper-like voice, "I never thought I'd see you."

I took a sharp, and hopefully unnoticeable intake of breath. One of the hands of heart. They're like nobodies and heartless mixed together. They have the same intentions of both combined.

"Hand of Heart." I addressed it, slightly bowing, "I ask only a few things of you."

"Oh?" it asked, "And these things may be?"

"That you return these creatures to the way they were before death, but replace the outline that they had before and give it the outline of a human. Not a nobody. I have provided the items necessary to complete this. I have the soul, the heart, and the body. I also ask that you take my heart and make it full by using this full heart. Also. The souls here once had control over an element." I said, "And I wish to take that control from them and put it into my grasp." I finished, holding out the heart in my hand. A black hand shot out and wrapped around me and the heart.

"Not enough." it said. I was stunned. Not enough? Putting souls in bodies was what the circle of hearts did, it shouldn't be hard. I'm giving them half a heart and part of my soul, which was always supercharged with hundreds of souls. Shouldn't that be enough?

"Circle of hearts, I ask you to reconsider!" I said, leaning forward slightly and holding out my hands in a begging gesture, "What else would you want?"

The mouth on the dark hand smiled, "Oh yes, there is something that you can do." it said.

"That is?" I asked.

"You live and die in another life." It said, its grin widening.

That made me take a sharp intake of breath, which caused me to choke on my own spit. "Excuse me?" I asked after I finished a coughing fit.

"You heard me. I give you a baby body, you grow old, and then you die. After that you all get your bodies back just the way you requested." it said. The grin intensified, which I didn't think was possible. "You also get the power over the elements." it reminded me. I wanted that power, but...

It wanted life exchange. Damn life exchange. Life exchange is what it wanted, out of all the things. For every year I live in a body the circle of hearts give me, a soul somewhere around in some world dies and the circle of hearts gets that soul. In life exchange you always live to be one hundred years old, so that's one hundred souls the circle of hearts gets.

"Wait!" I said, "Just take one hundred souls out of me, and then would you please just let me have my wish."

"Sure, but it's one hundred each." it said. One hundred for each organization member? That's not very fair. And the worst part is... I don't think I have one thousand three hundred souls on me right now.

"I cancel this. I don't wish for my heart to be full, and I want the souls to remain in the cards." I said. I would just go get some more souls and then come back. Simple, clean. Easy.

"No. It's already begun," the hand said.

I looked around. "You mean the black surrounding me and them?" I asked. I thought that was just for show. I didn't think that that would stop me from canceling this whole operation.

"Yes. As we speak, the darkness is molding the nobodies, hearts and souls into one being, the one that the soul _desires._ It takes some time. About one hundred years would be right." it said mockingly.

My brows furrowed. "Do I have any other options as of now?" I asked the circle of hearts.

"No." it said.

"So each of them will be put into another body?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Will any of them remember their past as nobodies?" I asked.

"No, but that's only because the hands haven't begun to wind together the memories that they once had. At the age of ten, the bodies they have been assigned to will have the memories of their past lives. _You,_ on the other hand, are a different story. You will have all your memories at birth." it explained.

I opened my mouth to speak. Well, wasn't this turning out to be a rotten day? But do I really have a choice? I can't stop it... and in the end, I will get what I want. "I guess it can't be stopped." I sighed, "So hurry it up."

The last thing I felt was electricity running threw my veins. Time stopped for me, almost like how it had stopped for the organization members long before.


	2. Chapter 2

"Grandle!" I called out, "Where are you!"

"I'm up here, young one." the old voice rang out, seeming strangled with age, yet strong with knowledge. I smiled as I climbed up boxes and ladders until I was at the level of the large house where Grandle sat. he was reading a book, but that was no surprise. He was always reading or writing or something like that.

"Grandle, I was just approved a high enough ranking to become a cleric!" I exclaimed, jumping around, my nature of always having to move coming out while I was excited.

"Really?" he asked, "A nine year old with a ranking that a normal twenty year old could get to? Outstanding."

I smiled, and jumped around more. I was glad that there was no task to complete, as there was in the old days. Once you reached the rank, you could become anything you wanted to become. They had changed that ever since the war, when they needed all the soldiers they could and couldn't risk a high percent chance of losing people in that task.

"So I can go to the next level as a magician?" I asked, "I'll be above the fifteen year old people, and stuff like that?"

Grandle frowned for a second, and then walked over to me. "This must be very exciting to you, but do keep aware what this means to your life." he said.

Now it was my turn to frown. "Grandle, what do you mean?"

"Listen and listen well, the choice you make now will change your destiny forever. I don't think that it is fair to ask so much of such a young boy, so I'm offering you a way out." he began to speak slowly, trying to put emphasis on what he was saying, "I'm going to let you walk away from this path. I'm going to ask you nicely to leave this path and to never return. To go out and find a better destiny than the one you have set in front of you now."

I blinked. He... _wants_ me to leave? Did I hear right? But what about all my work?

"Why, Grandle..." I said, "Is there... is there some specific reason as to why I should leave?"

"There is." he said, "But right now, I don't think you are old enough to understand why."

I got a little frustrated. I may be young, but he's always taught me not to let age get to me. And now he's telling me that I'm to young to understand? How's that fair to me, how's that fair to all the work I put into this? He's telling me to leave and never come back for goodness sakes! What's that all about! This isn't the Grandle that first put me on this path, because he wouldn't be pushing me away from it if it was!

"Grandle, I don't want to leave!" I told him, "I want to stay, I want to learn! I don't know what's lead you to make this decision, but I'm going to ignore it! I will become a cleric."

"Listen," he said, "These kind of jobs are no longer safe for a person of your age, or for a person with your personality. I do not wish for you take this path. We will speak of this no more."

I felt a strange sensation flow through my body... no doubt the feeling of being teleported.

"Wait, Grandle, please!"

But it was to late for that. I was at my mothers house in an instant, far away from Elenia, in fact, on the other side of Victoria Island. In Kerning city.

I was crushed. Sent away from what I wanted to do with as little as nothing. But that wasn't enough for me, no, I needed to become a cleric. So on my tenth birthday, two moths from that indecent, I traveled three weeks to Elenia, and stole a mastery book from Grandles house when he was with the other masters. I knew it was wrong, but I wanted it so bad. And I got what I wanted, I got to be a cleric, and Grandle never knew I was progressing, he would have stopped me if he did. He never found out about the book disappearing, and when I had just turned eleven, I went back, and stole another book, returning my old one. This time, Grandle found out.

I looked up at the house that was in the trees, so high that it would have killed a person who was afraid of heights just by looking at it. I teleported to the top in one blindingly fast movement, the portal not being exactly on the floor, which lead me to land neatly on the roof from a twenty foot fall. Perfect. I looked to my sides quickly to make sure I wasn't being watched before I pressed my hands onto the roof, expelling some mana through the old wood. I felt my mana squeeze through the cracks, and then settle through the wide space that was Grandles house. My mana wasn't stirring at all, which meant there was no one moving in there. I smiled. No one's home.

People are attached to their mana. Using it, you can feel things around you even though you're not there. When Grandle found out his tricks he wrote them down in his little mastery books. When I found out my tricks and wrote them down in my head. That way no one can steal them, like I did to him.

I leaped down off the roof and landed on a branch near to the door. I jumped onto the little plank of wood that extended off the bottom of the door, and quickly ran inside before anyone could see me. No doubt they'd tell Grandle if they saw. Don't want that.

I smirked. You'd think this would be hard. He doesn't protect his house enough.

I looked around, taking in the familiar setting. It still had the same boxes and ladders that lead to different floors which lead to different books. Everything looked the same, but Grandle wasn't in his chair. Good...

I leaped up a few floors. All the books were alphabetized, so all I had to do was find 'P'. There's L... M... N... O... Found it...

My smirk only grew on my face as I found the book labeled "Priest."

"It's just what I need..." I said, awestruck, grabbing the book from the shelf and then opening it, "I'm one step closer to becoming the greatest magician of all time..."

My eyes began to skim the text hand-written onto these pages. All the time it took me to memorize the last book and to preform ever spell perfectly... and now I could learn new spells the same way... become stronger than I was before...

"Well, you seem to be enjoying my lives' work." an old, damaged voice commented. My brain processed where the voice was coming from in a split second: the bottom left hand corner... that could only mean that someone was at the door from the first floor... someone had just come in, and by the sound of it, it was Grandle!

I flung myself around, book held protectively in my arms, looking with hate-filled eyes into those of the old man.

"Now, listen, I want you to-"

"Put the book down?" I asked with a loud, angry voice, "You want me to turn around and never come back? You want me to go and leave this place and forget my past, forget all of my work?"

His eye brows furrowed as he caught a clear glimpse of the book in my hands, "Hold on a second,"

"You hold on a second!" I told him, "You better learn that if you're going to live on Victoria with me on it, then you're going to let me take this book, and you will never tell another child to leave behind his dream again!"

He reached a hand towards me, "Wait, please listen, there's something I must tell you!"

"To late!" I said, "You should have told me a long time ago."

And then I gathered the rest of my mana and drained myself teleporting to Kerning city, leaving no trace of my being there except for the faint feel of the mana I had expelled earlier, and the missing book that never got returned to Grandle.

I went back and successfully stole the Bishops mastery book about a year later, but this time, I learned something that only Grandle and me know today.

It was nighttime when I got to Elenia. I took all the precautions that I had took the second time I broke in, and again, no one was home. What good luck if that wasn't, right?

I entered the old house, the floor creaking, but otherwise the place was silent. I looked at all the books, and quickly found 'B', with it being the second letter in the alphabet. I had burned the last Priest mastery book, so that no one could use it. It was MINE, I stole it, and burning it just made sure that no one else could use it.

I pulled out the Bishop mastery book. The front had a golden cloth cover on it, the cloth had the writing: Bishop- IV

This is what I've been waiting for. The last mastery book... after this, they will be no more advancements I could make... I could take down Grandle, or die trying. I would crush him like he had done to my dreams.

Before I had a chance to open the book I heard a small creak from behind me.

I spun around as fast as I could, but the only thing I saw was Grandles old rocking chair, one of the only windows in the place making it visible in the moonlight.

It continued to rock, as if controlled. Was Grandle...?

No, I would be able to sense him if he was here: my mana's still in this room, after all. But the rocking chair kept on rocking, and the wood underneath kept creaking.

It's not being controlled... It's trying to tell me something...

I noticed a charm on the undead on the arm rest. The lonely old man charmed it. How sad.

I walked up closer to the chair, and once I came within three feet of it, the rocking immediately ceased. Then I saw a book, sitting on the chair.

My eyes went wide, my back erected, my legs automatically took a step back in shear shock.

Eying me right in the face was a book titled, Patriarch- V

I ran up to it. Is this possible? A fifth advancement? But Grandle had never said anything about a fifth advancement.

_Of course he never told anyone! He wouldn't want anyone overthrowing him, correct? Well, with this book, you can! _My brain reminded me.

Yes, of course... but-

Suddenly, I heard the turn of the doorknob. Perfect timing. I teleported into the darkness, behind a bookshelf, and waited. I wanted to see what Grandle did in his spare time. Make more spells for himself, maybe...?

All you could hear in the darkness was his footsteps, slow, but never stopping. Eventually I heard him sit down in his rocking chair, probably having picked up that book, and he began to rock, the floor creaking as it did earlier. I looked intently through the shadows, and though I could make out the letter: V.

There wasn't a doubt in my mind that Grandle was reading that fifth book. My eyes narrowed. That selfish asshole. Taking everything for himself.

"You've grown, my child." I heard him comment. A smirk slipped past me, but I quickly fixed it.

"You really think so?" I asked sarcastically, stepping out of the dark, no longer hidden by the bookshelves.

"Why of course." he said, "It's only natural for a boy to grow, anyway."

"I guess it is." I agreed, "But you know whats not natural? What's inhuman?"

"Hm?" he asked.

"Keeping skills from the public. Skills that they all deserve to know at least exist." I said. He froze at my words, and I smirked.

"So you've found out about the book, have you?" he asked. I nodded.

"You did a good job in hiding it old man. You left it right on your chair." I said. He looked down at the armrest or the old rocking chair.

"Did I now? How clumsy of me." he commented.

"Yea, quite." I agreed, "Now, how about you hand me that little book, and I'll be on my way."

He looked at the floor and sighed. "I'm sorry." he said, his tone sincere, "But I can not let you."

"And why is that?" I asked, my voice raising a little bit.

"You're too young to understand."

I stood there, thinking that I had heard wrong. Did he just say... no he didn't... he couldn't have.

"Do you realize how far I've come?" I asked him, "Do you know how much I worked to get to this point? I've worked harder than any of your students. No, I've worked harder than _all_ of your students combined! And now you're telling me, after all these years, that I'm still to young?" my eyes narrowed into shards of sharp glass, "Like you told me the first time?"

He didn't move his head up from that position. "You have been bad, disobeying me." he said. "And not yet been punished."

"Punished for carrying out my own dream?" I asked, "How's that fair?"

"It may not seem fair." he said, "But you stole my work to complete your dream. And that makes in unfair to me."

"So it's unfair to both of us, is that what you're saying?"

"More so on me." he said and stood. "Do you realize how long it took me to work out the power of a Priest? And then you go and just ruin my work?"

"Do you know how long it took me to train to rank thirty, and rank one twenty? And then you go and throw me away as if I was nothing!" I said. We were in similar situations, but even I could see that his was worse. Getting from level thirty to one twenty was probably easier than deciphering the mysteries of a Priest.

"I know that you know that it was worse on me." he said.

"Yea, so?" I asked.

He was still for a moment, but then he walked painfully slow in my direction. Step after step got louder as he got closer until he was finally right in front of me. And then he did something I wouldn't have though he'd do in a year.

"Do you want to know why I wanted you to quit so badly back then?" he asked.

I blinked. "What use would it do now?" I asked, "You should have told me back then-"

"But I think you're old enough now." he said. More with the age thing...

"Sure, why not, Grandel?" I spat, rudely. He ignored my tone and spoke.

"You know about the war going on in Sleepy Wood, correct?" I nodded, and he went on, "Well, then, there was a great chance of the war spreading to Elenia. If that happened, then you would have been in great danger. I was trying to get all of the magicians away. I had managed to get you out late: but still, just in time. The very next day we were attacked by the assassins for out land, and perhaps, some magical skills." he said.

I didn't care. "Go on."

"A lot of magicians died, but we drove them out. The only thing that I think you should know is... I was in a situation where it was me and your father." he paused, looking at my reaction. My face didn't change so he went on, "A... certain magician... gave us the choice of one dieing... the other being set free."

"And?" I asked when he stopped. Wait a second... if it was _one _of them living... and he's here... "You chose my dad." I realized.

"It's not that simple, I can assure you-"

"Oh my god," I said, my head doing a little flip. I knew my dad was an assassin: I grew up in kerning city, so he _should_ be an assassin... but... dead? "My dad's dead because of you..." I said.

"Wait, please let me-"

"No!" I said, "You are so unfair! He's dead? You just lay that out to me? You're cruel, stupid, and hateful!" I said, launching a holly arrow at him, which he carefully and surprisingly gracefully dodged.

"You will let me speak!" he said, slamming the end of his cane of the ground. All of a sudden, my body wouldn't obey me: I was frozen still.

"A while ago, me and your dad were ushering people out of Elenia, helping the children first." he began to explain.

I didn't care. Oh my god, let me out of here!

I expelled an explosive amount of mana out of my skin, and it broke the shield Grandle was using to keep me still. I launched another holly arrow that hit him and sent him flying across the room.

"That's it!" he said, freezing me again in a much, much stronger shield. "If you want to become a soldier in war, then fine! You can keep that mastery book and learn from it, but from now on, you will be doing what you would have otherwise been sent to do when you were nine!"

I would have widened my eyes if I wasn't frozen.

"To rescue the beginners! One of the islands most dangerous jobs."

My eyes slowly slid open and then fluttered slightly when bright light attacked them. I raised my hand in front of my face for a moment so that my eyes could dilate. It wasn't until I heard the voice that I realized where I was.

"Oh, no, he's awake!" a male exclaimed, "You said yourself that he wouldn't wake for at least another five hours!"

"Well, I'm sorry! I didn't think he _would _wake up!" another male voice said.

I was in a circle of green light. Two people, who must have been clerics, were using heal continually on themselves, but I knew that they must have been circling their heal around me mainly because I could feel my muscles mend. It was a bit painful, but also a bit relieving, as if you were stretching after taking a very long nap, but there was more of that burn feeling.

They stopped because I was waking up. I knew they could continue to heal me when I was awake, but that burn feeling would eventually become unbearable. This is because when a cleric heals someone, they focus mana into rearranging the particles in a persons body. Depending on how much damage the person has suffered, they might need their particles rearranged more, and therefore, heal might need to be used more than once. Because the feeling of heat is cause by particles moving about rapidly, being healed to much will make you feel extremely overheated. If you were asleep, you wouldn't feel anything at all.

"How bad's the damage?" I asked them. They both looked at each other before answering.

"We're surprised you're alive." The one on the right answered, "You had a poorly mended leg, arm, and some ribs broken. You almost suffered brain damage, along with a fractured skull." he eyed me carefully before asking, "What on earth did you do that put you in such bad condition?"

I smiled and put my head back down, closing my eyes. "One of the new kids fell when he was crossing the path of the portal. I went to go get him."

There was a slight pause before realization of what had happened set in. "You shouldn't have done that." the other said, "You could have died-"

"Well, I didn't." I interrupted him, my eyes flinging open and showing a horrible expression of anger in them, "Did you ever think of that?"

Again, they paused. "Well?" I asked, raising my voice. _"Well?"_

"Please, lower your voice!" the right one said. My eyes must have grown fierce for he cringed back. I turned my head, avoiding his hurt stare.

"I wish I could leave this whole place and just go where there's no fighting." so I could take it over easily...

"Don't speak those words." the one on the left scolded me, "They're foolish! The only world you will ever be living in is this world. We need you here, we need someone to go get those kids-"

"No." I said simply, "You're wrong."

He stared at me for what seemed to be an eternity. "And what do you think-"

"I think that you _don't_ need me. Not at all. _You_ could go through your daily life, doing whatever, without me. Am I wrong?" I asked him.

"Well... no... I guess you're not wrong, _I _don't need you in my life. But it could interfere with other lives. Like the person who has to take your job. You'd be messing with his and your own destiny!"

My eyes flung so wide with surprise that he had said that to me. Did... did he, that _cleric, _the lower class, the simple, small, less experienced magician, just tell _me _about destiny?

My eyes narrowed. These people were just getting me into a bad mood. "You." I said, putting emphasis on every word, "Know _nothing._" I attempted to get into a kneeling position, seceding when I ignored the pain shooting up my spine, "About _**destiny.**_"

His eye brows furrowed. "And you, a fourteen year old, are suggesting you know more?"

It was true, he was older than me, probably by a few years. But I knew more. The things I've seen wouldn't compare to what he's seen. Imagine seeing a person who just came into this world, savagely get her head cut off, and then finding yourself unable to care. Or a boy, inexperienced, get hit with a stray bullet from his own side, and having to try to force yourself to feel sad. Or have sent a beginner boy into nothingness to get killed, and then found yourself feeling no sadness at all. That hopeless, lost face as he fell into the unknown. I know that's not destiny, that they didn't die because they were supposed to. I know they died because this world was to dam shitty to keep them alive.

"We shape our own destinies. Some people take the path of goodness and virtue. Others take the path of selfishness and hate. Help others find the right path, lest you find yourself on the wrong one." I said, ignoring any facial expression that may have crossed his face, "Find your own destiny, first, because the chances are there are some people out there waiting for you to do it."

The cleric made no move to stop me when I got up, still in pain but dealing with it, and headed for the door.

He most likely though that I was on the path of goodness... oh how wrong he was...

"Oh and I got a message to tell you," the one on the right said. At first I wasn't interested, I get messages all the time. But then... "It's from Grandle."

My eyes went wide. A message from him? "What is it?" I asked

"He says he just wanted you to know he trusts you. And that maybe you can have your job switched."

My jaw dropped. I was glad I wasn't facing those two, or that would have been bad. That way they couldn't see the evil grin spreading across my face, and they couldn't see my eyes shine with a hateful look.

"Genesis." I said, and with a wave of my hand, all that remained of the two clerics after a blood chilling scream was a pile of red liquid.

A/n- Just as I had predicted, only four thousand words long. Oh, well, you guys can live with it, right? Well, I'll upload soon enough! Review and point out my suckish mistakes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Grandles point of view from the day of the attack.**

I should have seen this one coming.

I knew that there was a war going on in Sleepy Wood between the Assassins and the Archers, but I wouldn't have imagined that the Assassins would want to take us out so soon. Sadly, I was wrong, they did want to take us out so soon, and by the time I found out they were invading we were bound to lose. The best thing we could do was retreat...

I teleported to the West of Elenia, where all the Assassins were coming in, in a flash.

"Grandle!" I heard someone yell behind me. I turned as fast as my old body would let me.

"Asher?" I asked.

"Don't worry," the man said, "I'm on your side."

"But you're an assassin." I said.

"But my son is a magician." he told me. Ah, yes. This is the boys father. I had forgotten.

"Oh, yes. I remember."

"Well, we have time to remember things later. For now, I think we should get the kids out of here."

"I agree." I said. "But first..."

I turned to where all the Assassins were entering into Elenia. I shouldn't use this attack around other magicians... but right now, lives are in danger.

I focused as much mana into my hands as I could manage, and began to release it, the air becoming foggy with a large amount of mana power.

I closed my eyes and began to concentrate all that mana into a thick, compacted shield. I could feel all the mana around me rush into one space, spreading out as far as I could see. Once I thought it was compacted enough, I stopped concentrating and opened my eyes. In front of me was a very visible blue wall. On the other side was assassins, hundreds of them, blocked from entering into Elenia.

"Okay, that's helpful." Asher said, "But now we gotta take care of the ones inside before they take care of us."

"Yes." I said.

Asher began to run into the thick woods of Elenia at a pace that my eyes had trouble following. I was, indeed, getting very old.

I teleported into the houses of Elenia, taking out the Assassins threatening the citizens with a flick of my wrist. They all couldn't have been over rank fifty. They were east enough for me to take out.

I had to hurry. I knew that the wall wasn't invincible. I was limited on time.

Sometime nearing the fiftieth house I ran into Asher again.

"Asher?" I asked, "What are you doing in here? I wouldn't have expected you to check the houses..."

I heard struggling coming from inside a closet.

"What...?" I asked.

"Seal." I heard Asher say. But... that didn't sound like Asher.

The man turned around, and like I had guessed, it was not Asher.

"The Black Magician." I heaved under my breath.

"Why hello, brother." He said. You could see the back of him beginning to turn into a black robe as the mana disguising him began to flow off.

"You tricked me." I stated smoothly.

"Why, yes." he said.

"Asher is in the closet, correct?"

"Why, yes, again." he answered, "Be my guest to take him out."

I nodded and walked over to the closet and opened one of the two doors that sealed the opening shut. Inside, indeed, was Asher, passed out on the floor.

"You knocked him out?" I asked.

"Yes." he answered simply.

My mouth shut into a tight line as I slowly bent over and place a hand on his shoulder. I focused my mana into a teleport that would bring us far away from my brother, but instead nothing happened. My mouth opened up a little.

"Can't use your magic?" he asked, "How sad."

I then remembered, when he was pretending to be Asher...

_ "Asher?" I asked, "What are you doing in here? I wouldn't have expected you to check the houses..."_

_ I heard struggling coming from inside a closet. _

_ "What...?" I asked._

_ "Seal." I heard Asher say. But... that didn't sound like Asher._

_ The man turned around, and like I had guessed, it was not Asher..._

"Ah." I said, realization dawning inside of me, "You sealed away my mana power."

"Yes." he answered.

"So what do you plan on doing to me?" I asked him.

"Oh, you'll decide that." he said to me.

"Excuse me?" I asked, wondering if I heard him correctly.

"One of you dies." he said, "You choose."

"So is this a sick game or does it have meaning?" I asked. I was curious as to what he was pulling. Only one of us? Why isn't he just killing us both?

"Grandle..." I heard Asher whisper on the floor, "He inflicted a lot of damage on me... I think I'm poisoned..." he said. I understood immediately.

"You want to go instead of me?" I asked. He nodded weakly in response.

"Black Magician." I said. He nodded his head.

"Your decision is made?" he asked.

"Yes." I answered. The magician smiled, and I turned from his eyes when I saw light out of the corner of my vision. Asher was glowing, his entire body lit with golden rays, purer than the sun. I watched for a few moments before the light exploded, in one fast moment, and Asher was gone. I see death on a daily basis, that's why I was able to go through this experience with so much as a second thought... but I had never seen _that _before.

"I'll let you go this time." the Dark Magician told me, "But there are only so many lives that you will sacrifice for your own."

At the end of that thought, he teleported in a flash of black magic. He was gone, but his message was still there, ringing in my head.

He's going to keep killing others until I take their place. But why does he want me dead... maybe he plans on taking over Elenia? That's the only reason I can muster up... Maybe he chose this way because it's the easiest: it could take out all of the four leaders...

I looked at the place Asher had disappeared from. His son was already so broken up inside... what would _this_ do to him?

**Same time, but the Dark Magicians' point of view.**

I would have Grandle dead soon enough. But I didn't put Grandle and Asher in that situation for no reason...

His son was the most talented boy I had ever seen: even more talented than me. That was troublesome, having someone who could become stronger than me in time. So I planned on making him mine. No need to let that raw talent and youth go to waste.

I had just left Grandle alone, and teleported to Kerning City: more specifically, to that little ball of talents' house. I would be leaving something there to... help him along my path.

Inside no one was home, which was good, that meant I didn't have to kill anyone. I slowly walked into the boys room: which was rather small, but his room, nonetheless. There was but a closet, a bed, and a bookshelf, which was loaded with tons of books. On the top of the bookshelf I placed an owl statue. The owls painted on eyes turned toward me and stared.

"What are you doing?" it asked.

"Leaving you here." I told it. "If you put the boy who lives here on the path to darkness, I'll give you your body back, limbs and all." I watched as its eye widened slightly, the dried pain spreading out.

"You will?" it asked.

"Yes. But if you fail, you will remain that statue forever. No makeups." I told it. It kept on staring at me.

"So you want this boy as your new little servant?"

"I want this boy as my new apprentice." I said, "And you're going to help me if you ever want to live again."

It paused, thinking about my offer. "You've got a deal." it said.

"Good."

I then teleported out of my house. Making this war spread was not easy, but I was going to make it happen. And beside me would be the most powerful magician on this planet, otherwise me, of course.

**Finally back to the Present**

I began to walk down the hallway, closing the door to the two dead bodies behind me and headed to my room. There was something there that was needed before I continued with my plan.

I was at my room soon enough, it being only a few turns away. I opened the door to the mostly empty room that my life had been revolving around ever since Grandle had made me join the military. Every plan that crossed my mind, every thought that brought me closer to my goal had been made here. Once I had taken a step in, the door shut behind me. My head turned to look at the top of the old wooden bookshelf, the owl statue still siting there. Perfect...

Sighing, I walked up to the shelf and grabbed it.

"What's the rush?" it asked.

"My plans are falling into place." I told him, "The old man finally began to trust me. I'll be able to get into his room now, and when that happens I'm going to pretend to confirm that he trusts me. In reality, I'll just be waiting for someone to come in and tell Grandle about the bodies that they found lying in the hall or somewhere: the ones that, in the near future, will be pawns for my getting to the one hundred and eightieth rank, and once I've gotten there it will be easy to steal Grandles fifth book. I'll go with Grandle to cheek out the bodies, I'll say that I'm going to go get more help, then I'll take the book and leave this place and become the best magician who ever lived. Than I'll kill Grandle."

"You thought this threw more than I had imagined you would." it commented, "I knew you were keeping your plans to yourself, but... they're so... dark."

"You never thought it." I said, "But you were expecting it."

"Yes, I was. You've always been good at reading me." it said, "Is that another one of your special talents?"

"Anyone can do it if you look close enough."

"Well I'm lucky I can see at all."

I chuckled. "You haven't seemed to notice that I wasn't talking about-" I paused listening to something that my ears had faintly picked up. "Wait..."

Quickly slipping the owl into my pocket, I opened the door to see someone making a right turn onto another hallway. Someone had heard something they weren't supposed to. I teleported over to the end of the long hall only to see a girl, a Warrior by the looks of it, running away from me. Probably going to go tell someone...

With a wave of my staff she was quickly disposed of- and I left the corpse a bloody mess in the hall. I only needed to kill a few more people before the one hundred and eightieth rank would be mine.

Figuring I needed to kill some people and rank up before anyone found the body, I opened the door that was closest to me and counted the heads of the surprised people. Ten of them... that would be easy enough. I waved my staff and began to close the door to muffle the sounds of the peoples screams as my Genesis killed everyone in that room. I walked down to the next door and killed everyone in that room, too, the same way.

"Hey... did you hear a scream?" a voice from down some hallway asked.

"Yeah I did... it came from over here..." a different voice answered, followed by the sound of some heavy footsteps. That meant that they were possibly wearing metal shoes... Warriors, perhaps?

"Wait, dude, should we go tell someone, call for backup, maybe?" the one who had spoken first asked. Backup? That meant they were guards. No Warrior would ever even think of calling backup to help them out. They'd rather die.

"Don't be a sissy! Someone was probably just pulling a prank on someone..."

Use where their voices came from, I was able to find out which hallway they were in, and I silently slipped into the corner of the wall, right at the turning point of the hallways. A plan on how to use these guys to my advantage bounced around inside my head as I crouched down onto my knees, placing my hands on the ground.

These guards would take a left turn into this hallway, walking towards me: where they heard the scream come from. Before they turned left, I would expel some of my mana through my palms and direct it through the floor and onto the other side of the hallway, and by using it I could speed up the particles in the floor and cause it to explode in one blindingly fast movement. This would cause them to turn to the right instead of to the left so they could quickly investigate the explosion, leaving me unnoticed. In the time it takes them to come to some sort of conclusion as the what happened and turn around, I'll have already slipped into the hallway they came from, and into a hopefully empty room. If there's someone in there... I'll just have to use mana to rearrange the particles in their throats into some strange combination that left them unable the speak. Maybe form both of their vocal chords together. Quick, easy and effective. Whatever makes it so that they can't scream, I'm fine with.

"You know what, I'm calling backup. There's no way that the scream I heard was a prank scream. That was a 'I'm choking and dieing' kind of scream. I have a feeling..."

"You always have a feeling." the other interrupted him, "And you always are wrong. Don't worry about it."

They were close enough by then, about five feet from taking the turn. I pushed a rather large amount of mana through my palms and focused on directing it quickly through the floor, and out the other end of the hallway. I let the mana charge the floor, making it hot, and in a flash of white light there was nothing but smoke coming from that direction.

"What was that?" One asked, stepping to the right, but taking no further movement towards the smoke. _Wait... aren't you going to go cheek it out? _

He took a step forwards, and then another, his second friend trailing closely behind him. Not what I was expecting... but the smoke will clear soon, and then they'll find out it was nothing quickly. I have to get moving while they don't know... no matter how close they are...

I got up and began to slowly walk towards the hallway in which these people came. But then something happened.

My foot nudged a pebble.

Yes, out of all the ways for them to find out I was there, it was from the small 'click' of a pebble being overturned. They both flung themselves around a whipped out a gun.

"Hold still!" They both yelled. I froze. Dammit.

"Code red, we've got a murderer on our hands. Hall sixty seven. Requesting backup." The one that had been sure that no one was here said.

I needed a new plan. He was calling for backup, which meant I had more people to kill. I could run and lessen the chances of getting killed... but then again, I could stay here, kill these two people, wait for more people to come, kill them, and depending on how many people are there... I could rank up, and then go on with my plan. I liked the second plan one better.

"Okay." I said, putting my hands in the air, "You've got me. I kill quite a few people in this hallway."

The one who had been scared of going down here shoved his gun farther in my direction, fear written on his face, unlike the calm friend of his who stood nice and cool next to him, and asked, "Why? Why did you kill those people?"

"Oh, dear, you found me but a minute ago and now the interrogation starts. A tad bit early don't you think?" I asked mockingly. I had to make them angry... make them put their defenses down but trying to raise their attack. In the end, I would kill them.

"Why?" he asked, louder.

"Well, because it was fun." I said.

I watched as his back erected, his eyes widened, and his gun slightly lowered for a second. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"You can clearly see that I'm young. I'm fourteen. I've seen enough death in my life to witness a fellow human get shot down and not give a second glance to them, not feel anything towards them, not even blink when they crumble down, everything for them ending." _I need to sound like a monster... someone who should die right here, right now... I need them both dead before the backup gets here. I'm running out of time._

"And eventually, I got used to seeing people die right in front of me. And then, after some time, I began to like it. I began to grow an affection towards the death of others. And then, after all of that, I began to crave it. I craved the death and suffering of all my surrounding friends. I wanted to see them scream, rolling on the floor in agony. And today, I got what I wanted."

I bowed, my speech over. It was all a lie, of course, there was only one person on Victoria who was quite _that _sick. But they seemed to be falling for it: the cool and collected ones face going red and the smaller boy trembling.

"You monster!" the smaller one yelled, charging towards me. Perfect.

I turned out of the way, and then right when he passed me by, I put a quick hand on his shoulder and then pulled away and faced the taller one. I didn't want to see the younger boys body just give out. It was the way my mother had died, and I never had to see it again.

I had put a very, _very_ small amount of mana into the boys shoulder, which traveled to his brain, and stopped all thought process, making the boy go brain dead. His heart stopped, no longer receiving the messages your brain would normally send your heart without your knowledge, and his digestive system would slow to a halt. He would shut down, painlessly.

"Leon!" the taller one shouted running over to his friends side, ignoring me momentarily. "Leon!"

"This 'Leon' is dead." I pointed out, looking straight at the man while he had a mental break down, "Stop calling his name."

"You monster!" he called out, holding up his gun. He fired.

I smiled at his action. Way to fall right into my trap.

Mana surrounded my body as I summoned Magic Armor. Magic Armor is a simple technique that's existed for... hundreds of years. You focus the mana around your body and continually add more, forcing it into the same place around until it compacts and hardens. It limits your movement at first, but as you practice you can layer the mana into strong sheets surrounding your body, as normal metal Warrior armor would wear, so that you can move more freely. But as you stop focusing on compressing the mana, it'll begin to flow away, making your shield weaker until it's nonexistent. In the time that the mana is compressed, it's sort of like plexiglass. Strong, but it will crack. As time goes by, it turns into regular glass. Weaker, and offers little protection. After that, it's like paper.

The bullet ricocheted off of the thick, blue shield, a large crack forming in the solid mana. I watched as the bullet hit the one who fired it in the neck, closer to the right, causing the body to fall to the floor. I stood and stared for a few seconds, making sure that there was no life left in either of them. They didn't move.

Well, it's safe to say that they're taken care of.

It didn't go exactly how I wanted it to go, but now all I have to do is wait for the backup. I'm so close to leveling...five guards should be enough. I'll let the rest live so that they can get the news spread to Grandle.

I walked down the hallway, and placed a mana bomb on the floor. That should take care of any guards who came around. Walking back, I hid in the hallway I wanted to hide in a while ago, but never ended up doing so as my plan failed. I opened the door to the nearest room and went in so that I wasn't in plain sight. Sighing, I took the owl out of my pocket.

"I heard your little speech back there." it said.

"Well I heard it, too, believe it or not." I said back.

"Your sarcasm hurts."

"Well so does yours."

It was silent after that for a while. I thought it was going to go on until I heard someone through my door, the guards, hopefully blowing up, that anyone made an action, but the owl decided otherwise.

"So." it asked, "What are you going to do after you get your book?"

I looked down at it. "What do you mean? I'm going to read it of course. Become stronger."

"That's it?"

"What do you mean?" I asked again.

"You're just going to get stronger. But you still won't be the strongest."

I sighed, having already thought this threw. I had decided that I would need more than myself to take down the master. But I was interested with where this was going... "And what do you think I should do about this problem?"

The beak of the white fiberglass owl curved up into what could possibly be a smirk. "You'd do anything to kill the old man?"

"Yes."

"No matter how unspeakably evil it may be?"

"Depends on how many people end up dieing." I answered smoothly.

"No one." It said.

"You sure?"

"Maybe a few."

"I'm listening."

It chuckled, pleased that I was listening to what it had to say. "The Dark Magician."

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Become the apprentice of the Black Magician, and you'll never have to worry about dieing, losing a battle, or anything like that." the smirk widened, "You'll be invincible."

I opened my mouth to speak, but then I heard footsteps and voices outside of the door. And then...

_Bam._

"Holly shit!" one called.

"Oh my god!" called another.

"Call for back up!"

But I wasn't listening. I was paying attention to the power folwing into my body, and the misty words flowing around my head. Level up.

"Wait are those more bodies?"

"Are these the people who sent out the message for backup?"

"Yes they are. The call was from number eighty nine. These people are number eighty nine and ninety. The murderer they spoke of is no where in sight. He could be anywhere by now, and they also didn't give us a single detail as to what he looked like."

Well, the conversation I was having would have to wait til later. Right now, I had something far more important to do.

I walked to the door, slipping the owl into my pocket, and slowly opened it, stopping when I had just enough room to slip out. I could have teleported, but teleporting gives off a small flash of light. With these people alert, they would, without a doubt, catch me. More like kill me.

I walked into the hall, and put on a show.

"What?" I asked nobody, looking down at the bodies. The guards spun around, holding up their guns immediately, fingers on the trigger. "Who did this?"

They looked at one another before lowering their guns slightly. "Number and ranking." one asked.

"Number: Six hundred and sixty six. Ranking: One seventy nine." I answered, lying about my ranking, summoning my staff in the process, my voice rising in false anger, "Now answer my question! All I hear is a loud boom, I come out here... and there's bodies everywhere! _Who did this?_"

"Relax kid, we don't know." he said. "They called for backup. Whoever they needed backup for made sure that they were taken care of before the backup got here."

I lowered my staff, and looked at the bodies, my forehead creasing. "This... I can only think of two possibilities right now." I explained, "One: There's a traitor here. Two: Someone from the other side's here."

"You're right kid." he said. "Better keep your guard up."

"Right."

"Look, I'll go get master Grandle, and then we'll sort this all out." he said, turning to leave.

"No." I said, causing him to stop in his tracks. "I'll teleport there, it'll be faster. You keep an eye out for this killer."

He did a quick one eighty, looked to his troops who nodded to him, and then nodded to me. "Sure thing, kid, whatever gets this situation cleared out faster."

I nodded back to him and then, in one quick flash, I was gone.

A/n- a longer chapter. You're all leaping for joy! Well, enjoy, point out mistakes, all that good stuff. Review. REVIEW. You must. Point out mistakes...


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